Zaya Gran Reserva 12-Year

Very nice smooth rum, the smell itself will make you want more. Not quite as good as diplomatico 2000 but for the price your getting a great tasting rum. Recommend

Rum neni spatny, ale za 1200 kc mam ve sbirce lepsi. Krasny darkovy obal, tezka a pekna lahev, ale chut cene uplne neodpovida.

Eye: Clear, Waterclear, Brown
Nose: Alot Vanilla, Caramel, Hint of Pear
Mouth: Sweet, Vanilla, Caramel, Spicy Notes
Aftertase: Smooth finish, only lightly complex
I like this rum because of it's sweetness, but i'm a bit dissapointed by the quick finish. I taste vanilla and caramel.. a little bit of spicy,wooden notes. I give it a 8, but for the ones that like it more complex it's a 7 or less!

The difference between the smell and taste of this rum is a large chasm of what once was excitement...Good intro...but again, the difference between smell and taste was too much for me...

This is my first review and first bottle of rum . what can i say , i liked it .

A smooth high quality rum with too much vanilla. I feel like this rum has a lot of flavors in it but it is hard to find them underneath all the vanilla. If you like captain morgan private stock you should love this.

While advertised as a dark rum, this Is more of a liqueur with lots of added sugar and vanilla flavoring. It's liquid candy. That being said, there is a wonderful nose of vanilla, booze and a slight floral note. On the tongue, there is tons of maple, vanilla with underlying oak astringency. There is a fair amount of spice on the back of the palate.

I drank this straight up, no ice. Again, ultra smooth, like liquid candy. I wouldn't mix this, as I imagine it would be cloyingly sweet in coke or a cocktail.

Being only familiar with certain bourbons, this was an interesting introduction to rum. It was a nice dessert drink that went well with a slice of cake. I do suspect this isn't a rum for serious rum lovers, since rum is very dry (like bourbon) out of the cask. I'm definitely curious about trying dryer varieties.

P.S., I tasted the OLD Zaya, the one produced in Guatemala. Taster was from a small, 3-shot bottle.

EDIT: This review was updated for the NEW Zaya. Upon tasting the Zaya produced in Trinidad, I was sorely disappointed. I nearly thought I was drinking harsh vanilla extract. I let the glass breathe for 15 minutes. It needed a large ice cube to mellow it out; even then it was one-dimensional with the overpowering vanilla flavor crowding out other subtle flavors. The butteriness I got in the old Guatemalan version was absent, sadly.

At room temperature Zaya is feminine and has a spicy character. the flavor is rich, and vibrant with a silky smoothness to it. Cool it down, and becomes a calm rum, with an impeccable round feel, easy to drink, understand and love. It is amazing how the temperature can change this rum. I love it spicy but it is also great cooled. Try them both.

Country of Origin:
Trinidad

Bottle:
A nice presentation here. Tall and very heavy with a shape reminiscent of a wine bottle. Woven fibers decorate the neck, which is topped with a plastic cap attached to a synthetic cork.

Glass:
Zaya has a pleasing reddish-orange tree sap color in the glass. A quick swirl reveals legs that run surprisingly slowly down the sides.

Nose:
Smells faintly of vanilla and root beer, with a very slight fruitiness. You can already tell this is going to be a very sweet rum, hinging on a dessert drink.

Tongue:
Immediately, you notice a very thin mouthfeel, almost weak, which is disappointing given the lead-up on the nose. There is a hit of peppery brown sugar which doesn’t do a whole lot until you swallow.

Finish:
As you swallow, the flavors expand to the rest of your mouth, but primarily just sends a stinging sensation all over before going down with a small burn.

Aftertaste:
The stinging sensation remains for a bit, actually giving way to some numbness if you take too many sips in a short time. The initial sweetness remains as well, but can easily be overpowered if you drink too fast.

Overall:
Not a bad sipping rum at all. Perhaps a little too sweet for some, but others will like that aspect. It seems to me that past batches were a tad less sweet than they are now. I’ve found that Zaya is a good gateway rum for those getting into enjoying rum for its own merits rather than as a cocktail ingredient.

Well balanced delicious rum. Smooth sipping with the taste of bananas and chocolate roasted over lump charcoal. Dry but Molasses lingers on your lips. Excellent price.